Ralph’s Coffee to Reopen With New Owner
Former customer to revive neighborhood bar, serving coffee, comfort food and alcoholic drinks.
Site of Ralph’s Coffee Cafe, 4538 W. Lisbon Ave. Photo taken Oct. 4, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.
For 30 years, Ralph’s Coffee was a staple in Washington Heights, its bold-lettered sign a beacon to passersby at the busy intersection of Lisbon Avenue and 46th Street.
Everyone knew Ralph’s Coffee. But Monique Winters knew Ralph.
“I grew up in the area — long-term resident of Washington Heights,” she said. “I used to go in there and we used to talk. He used to ask me if I wanted to buy the bar.”
Winters never seriously considered the proposal until owner Ralph Neely passed away last December. His family asked her to take over, so she bought the business at 4538 W. Lisbon Ave.
Since then, life has been a blur of license applications, construction, and city meetings — a whole new world for Winters, who built her career in healthcare and now owns six assisted living facilities across the state. While she’s well-practiced in customer service, running a restaurant will require some on-the-job learning. Through it all, Winters hopes to prioritize community.
That means hosting neighborhood barbecues and other gatherings, providing activities for kids during warm-weather days and serving free meals for those 12 and under on Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Winters has renamed the place as Ralph’s Coffee Cafe, and the bar will offer a lounge-style setting with comfortable seating and table service for alcohol.
The food menu, a collaborative effort between Winters and her fiancé, will highlight comfort foods like fried chicken, fish, pork chops and cheeseburgers. Deli sandwiches and sides including fries, okra, jalapeno poppers and onion rings will also be available, along with breakfast items. To drink, Ralph’s will serve a full range of alcoholic beverages and — of course — coffee.
In addition to food and drink, the business plans to offer entertainment with a jukebox and karaoke nights.
Though currently under construction, the finished bar aims to evoke the rustic charm of a farmhouse, Winters said, adding that her vision for the 1,545-square-foot interior complements the building’s red exterior. “It looks like a barn,” she said.
Ralph’s Coffee Cafe is slated to open by the end of the month, though that timeline depends on the pace of construction.
Once open, the bar’s hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to midnight Tuesday through Sunday.
Photos
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30 years? I seem to recall it being a bar bar more recently than that.